Valve tappet adjusting tool



Sept. 22, 1931. w. 1.. ROWLAND VALVE TAPPET ADJUSTING TOOL Filed April 17, 1929 Patented Sept. 1,931

UNI ED STATES WILLIAM L. ROWLAND, or" uosma, ormaon VALVE rarrm: enwsrme moor.

Application filed April 17, 1929, Serial No. 855,850.

This invention relates generally to internal combustion engines, and particularly to tools for adjusting the valve tappets thereof.

The main object' of this invention is to provide an exceedingly simple and efficient form of valve tappet adjusting tool whereby a setting or adjustment can be quickly and accurately made b an unskilled person with-v- 10 out the use of a t ickness gage of any kind.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary section through the valve and its operating mechanism showing the tool in position for adjustment.

Figure 5 is a section taken along the line 5-5 in Figure 4.

Similar numbers of reference ,refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring in detail to the drawings, in

order to illustrate this invention there is.

shown a common form of valve 10 normally resting against a seat 11 by a valve spring 12. There is also shown a cam 13'which en-- gages a head 14 of a valve tappet 15 provided with flattened sides 16. In the valve tappet 15 is mounted an adjusting screw; 17 whose head'18 is separated from the tip '19 of the valve stem 20 by a clearance space 21 which, as is well known, should be accurately adjusted,-=since if it is too small the valves will not seat properly when heated, and if it is too large the tappets will be unduly noisy. A satisfactory adjustment, there'- fore, is a precision operation and is normally performed by trial and a. subsequent gagin by means of thickness or feelerv gages. 1

%t is well understoodby the skilled mechanic that the personal equation enters into the line PATENT. orrlcaf j} the use of these gages, and in addition to this fact uneven wearin of'the tip 19 and its assoclated screw hea 18,-often results in an inaccurate and unsatisfactory adjustment of the valve, usually in the way of overclearness.

There is also shown a lock nut 22 which is loosened or tightened, as the case may be, by means of an ordinary end wrench 23.

Referring more particularly tothe device it will be seen to consist ofan adjusting handle 24 and a holding handle 25 which are hingedly joined near the middle thereof by I means of a pin 26 which passes through the cars 27 and .28. The ad usti end 29 of the handle 2 1 is provided wit acircular recess 30 which'terminates in the cutaway I ends 31 which are recess 30-. ,o

' Journaled in the recess 30 is a gear 32 havpreferablyradial with-the mg a hub 33 formed on each side thereof,

which hub occupies the recess 30. The gear 32 is provided with a slot34 adapted to receive the head 18 o f the screw 17. Meshing with the gear 32 are the pinions 35 which aretwo in number in order to maintain a driving relation with the gear 32 while one of the pinions 35 is crossing the gap in the gear teeth formed by .the slot 34.- The pinions 35 have short projecting pivots 36 formed of each of which journals in the handle 24.

'Also journaling ,in the handle andmeshing with both pinions 35, .is a drivin gear 37 rotatably mounted on the pivot 37- which gear is held in position by a spring pawl 38 which will enable the gear 37 to be turned-in'either direction-by hand,'and ofa,

nature which will cause a sharp clicking sound as the pawl rides over the teeth. The ratio between the gears 32 and 37 and the relation of this ratio to the pitch-or lead of the screw 17 .is such as tobring about an adj ustment of .OO-l of'an inch, at the head 18;when the pawl 38*.has'clicked over one tooth on the 7 In order to further support and retain the gears 32 and Wind the pinions 35 there is gear 37.

provided an arm 39 which is similar in shape to the adjusting end of the handle .24; and is secured thereto by means of the screws 40.

handle 44 and the other end of which passesloosely through the o posite handle 'and which carries thereon tween the handle ends 44 an adjusting nut 47.

The operation of the device is as follows:

The gear 37 is first rotated by hand so that the gear 32 will be caused to move with its slot 34 registering with the open ends 31. The wrench 41 is now in a retracted position (as shown in full lines in Figure 2). The adjusting end of the handle 24 is then slipped upon the head 18 of the screw 17. The gear 3 is then turned until the straight sides 16 of the valve tappet are in position to receive the wrench 41, which is then moved into position to hold the valve tappet 15 and clamped thereby means of thet umb nut 42. The lock nut 22 is now loosened by means of the wrench 23 and the screw 17 rotated by turning the gear 37 with the fingers until the head 18 comes into engagement with the tip 19 of the valve stem 20.

If, for example, it is now desired to provide .004 of an inch clearance it is only necessary to rotate the car 37 in the o posite direction .until four 0 icks are heart from the pawl 38. The nut 22 is now tightened by means of the wrench 23 and the tool removed from the tapplelat which now has .004 of an inch clearance. other words, each click from the pawl 38, after the head 18 is brought into engagement with the ti 19, represents an additional thousandths 0 an inch of clearance. Obviously, any other value or sub-division thereof could be employed without departing from the spirit of this invention.

The reason for making the handle 25 hinged (as shown) is to make it possible to va the distance between the adjustin end an the holding end of the tool to ena 1e it to adapt itself to different spacings between the head 18 and the flattened spaces 16. While there is very little difierence in the adjusting screws 17 in various t pes of motors, any difference therein would e compensated for by providing a variety of wrench sizes 41 as well as appropriate sizes of openings or slots 34 for the head 18.

It is obvious that while a sound producing pawl 38 is employed for the reason that valve adjustments are often made in a poor light, it is also possible to calibrate the moving parts in the adjusting member in order that the amount of adjustment can be read directlyin an desired units of measure.

I c aim: 1. A valve tappet adjusting tool having in combination a frame, a rotatable segment gear mounted in said frame constitutin an open end wrench, a pair of pinions mes ing with said gear, a drive gear meshing with both of s'a1d pmions, a slidable holdin wrench hingedly mounted on said frame, an means for varying the spacing between said wrenches along the axis of the tappet.

I 2. A valve tappet ad'usting tool consisting of a pair of open ende wrenches, one of said wrenches having a rotatable head for engagmg the tappet adjusting screw and the other wrench having a sliding head adapted to engage the valve tappet and hold same against rotation, said rotatable head consisting of a segment gear having two pinions meshing therewith adapted to brid e the openin therein, and having a gear or driving both of said pinions simultaneously for the purpose of maintaining a continuous drive for said rotatable head regardless of its position.

WILLIAM L. ROWLANT 

